Preface
Once regarded as a mysterious region, Tibet has long thrown off its
veil to reveal itself to the world. She is now experiencing earth-
shaking changes in a ****ft from Medieval extreme backwardness to
modernization.
However, the world still knows very little about real developments in
this region. So those who once committed or attempted aggression
against her yell at the top of their voices that Tibet is being
invaded; others who once deprived the people of this region of all
personal freedom shout that the human rights of the people there are
being infringed. Rumors, distortion, suspicion,misunderstanding...all
combine to form a layer of mist to envelop this region.
In order to know the situation there, it is imperative to look at the
facts.
Therefore, the best course of action is to present them.
Part One
I. Owner****p of Tibet
Tibet is located in southwest China. The ancestors of the Tibetan race
who lived there struck up links with the Han in the Central Plains
long before the Christian era. Later, over a long period of years, the
numerous tribes scattered on the Tibet Plateau became unified to form
the present Tibetan race. By the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the Tibetans
and Hans had, through marriage between royal families and meetings
leading to alliances, cemented political and kin****p ties of unity and
political friend****p and formed close economic and cultural relations,
laying a solid foundation for the ultimate founding of a unified
nation. In Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, the
statue of the Tang Princess Wen Cheng, who married the Tubo tsampo,
king of Tibet, in 641, is still enshrined and wor****ped in the Potala
Palace. The Tang-Tubo Alliance Monument marking the meeting for this
purpose between Tang and Tubo erected in 823 still stands in the
square in front of the Jokhang Monastery. The monument inscription
reads in part, "The two sovereigns, uncle and nephew, having come to
agreement that their territories be united as one, have signed this
alliance of great peace to last for eternity! May God and humanity
bear witness thereto so that it may be praised from generation to
generation."
In the mid-13th century, Tibet was officially incor****ated into the
territory of China's Yuan Dynasty. Since then, although China
experienced several dynastic changes, Tibet has remained under the
jurisdiction of the central government of China.
Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368)
In the early 13th century, Genghis Khan, leader of the Mongols,
established the Mongol Khanate in north China. In 1247 Sagya Pandit
Gonggar Gyamcan, religious leader of Tibet, met the Mongol Prince
Gotan at Liangzhou (present-day Wuwei of Gansu, China) and decided on
terms for Tibetan submission to the Mongols, including presentation of
map and census books, payment of tributes, and the acceptance of rule
by appointed officials. The Tibetan work Sagya Genealogy written in
1629 includes Sagya Pandit's letter to the religious and secular
leaders in the various parts of Tibet that they must pledge allegiance
to the Mongols and accept the regional administrative system
prescribed for Tibet. The regime of the Mongol Khanate changed its
title to Yuan in 1271 and unified the whole of China in 1279,
establi****ng a central government, which, following the Han (206
BC-220) and Tang dynasties, achieved great unification of various
regions and races within the domain of China. Tibet became an
administrative region directly under the administration of the central
government of China's Yuan Dynasty.
The Yuan emperor established the Xuanzheng Yuan or Ministry for the
Spread of Governance to directly handle im****tant military and
political affairs of the Tibet region. Choice of its members lay with
the emperor and its re****ts were submitted directly to the monarch.
Yuan****, the chief minister having real authority in the Xuanzheng
Yuan, was a post generally held concurrently by the right-hand prime
minister of the central government who was in charge of the whole
nation's governmental affairs.
In the Tibetan region, local military and administrative organs were
set up under the name of the High Pacification Commissioner's Office,
which was under the Xuanzheng Yuan. Under the jurisdiction of this
office were 13 wanhu offices (myriarchies each in command of 10,000
households) and more qianhu offices (chiliarchies each in command of
1,000 households) handling civil administration. The names of these
organizations and official posts were decided by the central
government of the Yuan Dynasty. It also had troops stationed in Tibet.
A royal prince and his descendents were stationed on the eastern
border of Tibet at the head of an army. When Tibet was enmeshed in
trouble, the prince could enter the area from nearby garrison to
perform his duty of guarding the security of the border region. In
1290, when the head of a wanhu office rose in rebellion, the central
government of the Yuan Dynasty dispatched the prince into Tibet at the
head of his army to put it down.
The central government of the Yuan Dynasty sent officials into Tibet
to set up post stations, whose size varied according to the local
population, topography and resources. These post stations were linked
up in a communication line extending from Tibet up to Dadu (present-
day Beijing).
The central government of the Yuan Dynasty also dispatched officials
into Tibet to conduct censuses, establish the number of corvee
laborers in areas under various wanhu offices and decide the number of
corvee laborers, provisions and animal trans****t the areas along the
post route had to supply. Such censuses were conducted three times in
Tibet, in 1268, 1287 and 1334. The Tibetan work History From the Han
and Tibetan Sources records them in detail.
Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)
In 1368 the Ming Dynasty replaced the Yuan Dynasty in China, and
inherited the right to rule Tibet.
The central government of the Ming Dynasty retained most of the titles
and ranks of official positions instituted during the Yuan Dynasty. In
the central and eastern parts of present-day Tibet, the Dbus-Gtsang
Itinerant High Commandery and the Mdo-khams Itinerant High Commandery
were set up respectively. Equivalent to provincial-level military
organs, they operated under the Shaanxi Itinerant High Commandery and,
at the same time, handled civil administration. In Ngari in west
Tibet, the E-Li-Si Army-Civilian Marshal Office was instituted.
Leading officials of these organs were all appointed by the central
government.
The third emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Chengzu (reigned 1403-1424) saw
the advantage of combined Buddhist religious and political power in
Tibet and rivalry between sects occupying different areas. So he
conferred honorific titles on religious leaders in various parts of
Tibet such as the "prince of Dharma," "prince" and "national master in
Tantrism." Succession to such prince****p needed the approval of the
emperor, who would send an envoy to confer the official title on each
new prince. Only then could the new prince assume his role. According
to the stipulations of the Ming court, the prince had to dispatch his
envoy or come in person to the capital to participate in the New
Year's Day celebration each year and present his memorial of
congratulation and tribute. The Ming court had detailed stipulations
that limited the dates for presenting tributes, the number of
personnel allowed in the capital, the route to be taken, and also
provisions to be supplied by local authorities along the route. The
tablets wi****ng longevity to the emperors before which the prayers had
to prostrate themselves are still kept in some of the monasteries in
Tibet.
The Dalai Lama and the Bainqen Lama are the two leading incarnation
hierarchies of the Gelug Sect of Tibetan Buddhism. The Gelug Sect rose
during the Ming Dynasty, and the 3rd Dalai Lama was the abbot of one
of the sect's monasteries. The central government of the Ming Dynasty
showed him special favor by allowing him to pay tribute. In 1587 he
was granted the title of Dorjichang or Vajradhara Dalai Lama.
Any official of the Tibetan local government who offended the law was
punished by the central government.
Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)
When the Qing Dynasty replaced the Ming Dynasty in 1644, it further
strengthened administration over Tibet. In 1653 and 1713, the Qing
emperors granted honorific titles to the 5th Dalai Lama and the 5th
Bainqen Lama, henceforth officially establi****ng the titles of the
Dalai Lama and the Bainqen Erdeni and their political and religious
status in Tibet. The Dalai Lama ruled the bulk of areas from Lhasa
while the Bainqen Erdeni ruled the remaining area of Tibet from
Xigaze. In 1719, Qing government troops were sent into Tibet to dispel
the Zungar forces which had been entrenched in Lhasa for three years,
and set out to reform Tibet's administrative system. The Qing emperor
made a young Living Buddha of the Xikang area the 7th Dalai Lama and
had him escorted into Tibet, and appointed four Tibetan officials
renowned for meritorious service "Galoins" to handle Tibet's political
affairs. From 1727, High commissioners were stationed in Tibet to
supervise local administration on behalf of the central authorities.
Officials were also assigned about this time to survey and delimit the
borders between Tibet (i.e. Xizang) and Sichuan, Yunnan and Qinghai.
In order to perfect Tibet's administrative organizations, the Qing
Dynasty on many occasions enacted "regulations" to rectify and reform
old systems and establish new ones. The Authorized Regulations for the
Better Governing of Tibet, promulgated in 1793, had 29 articles. Their
major pur****t was:
The Qing government holds the power to confirm the reincarnation of
all deceased high Living Buddhas of Tibet including the Dalai Lama and
the Bainqen Erdeni. When the reincarnate boy has been found, his name
will be written on a lot, which shall be put into a gold urn bestowed
by the central government. The high commissioners will bring together
appropriate high-ranking Living buddhas to determine the authenticity
of the reincarnate boy by drawing lots from the gold urn. (Both the
gold urn and lots are still preserved in Lhasa.) The tonsure of the
incarnate Living Buddha, his religious name, the choice of the master
to initiate him into monkhood and his sutra instructor all have to be
re****ted by the high commissioners to the imperial court for
examination and approval. The central government will send high
officials to supervise in person the installation ceremony for the new
Dalai Lama and the new Bainqen Erdeni and also the ceremony for their
taking over reins of government at coming of age.
The high commissioners will supervise the handling of Tibetan affairs
on behalf of the central government, enjoying the equal standing with
the Dalai Lama and the Bainqen Erdeni. All the Galoins and those below
them are subordinates.
The ranks and numbers of Tibetan civil and military officials, and
procedures for their promotion and replacement are stipulated. The
highest-Ranking Tibetan officials including four Galoins and six
Deboins are to be appointed by the central government. The annual
salaries of the Galoins and Deboins will be paid by the central
government.
A regular army of 3,000 will be organized in Tibet. The regulations
stipulate ranks and numbers of military officials, the source of troop
pay and provisions, plus weaponry and places where troops are to be
stationed. In addition, some 1,400 troops will be transferred from the
interior to stations in various localities of Tibet. Both Tibetan and
Han troops are put under the command of officers sent by the central
government.
A mint will be set up in Tibet along the lines established by those in
the interior to make official money for circulation. On the two sides
of the silver coinage the words "Qianlong Treasure" will be cast in
the Han Chinese and Tibetan.
The annual financial receipts and expenditures of the Dalai Lama and
the Bainqen Erdeni will be subject to checking by the high
commissioners.
Tibet's taxation and corvee labor will be born by the whole society on
an equal footing. Only those nobles and large monasteries who have
made real contributions will enjoy preferential treatment and
exemptions, but these must be examined and approved by the high
commissioners and the Dalai Lama, who will issue them licences for
this purpose.
Merchants from Nepal and Kashmir wanting to do business in Tibet must
register. The registration book must be filed with the high
commissioners for record. The appropriate officials will issue laissez-
passers to them. Any foreigner applying to enter Lhasa must be
examined for approval by the High Commissioner's Office. The high
commissioners will issue laissez-passers to Tibetans who apply to go
to Nepal or other places, and set the leaving and returning dates for
them.
National boundary markers will be erected in a number of places where
southwest Tibet borders on countries like India and Nepal. The high
commissioners will make an annual tour in Tibet to inspect the defense
arrangements of the troops stationed there and matters concerning
border markers.
All foreign affairs involving Tibet will be left completely in the
hands of the high commissioners. No Galoin is allowed to maintain
correspondence with the outside, and all letters and alms received by
the Dalai Lama and the Bainqen Erdeni from the outside must be
submitted to the high commissioners for censor****p and decision
concerning a reply.
Criminal punishment will be re****ted to the high commissioners for
examination and approval.
Between 1727, when the high commissioner****p was first established,
and 1911, the year the Qing Dynasty was overthrown, the central
government of the Qing Dynasty stationed more than 100 high
commissioners in Tibet.
Republic of China (1912-49)
In the autumn of 1911, revolution took place in China's interior,
overthrowing the 270-year-old rule of the Qing Dynasty and
establi****ng the Republic of China.
Upon its founding, the Republic of China d itself a unified republic
of the Han, Manchu, Mongol, Hui, Tibetan and other races. In his
inauguration statement on January 1, 1912, Sun Yat-sen, the
provisional first president of the Republic of China, d to the whole
world: "The foundation of the country lies in the people, and the
unification of lands inhabited by the Han, Manchu, Mongol, Hui and
Tibetan people into one country means the unification of the Han,
Manchu, Mongol, Hui and Tibetan races. It is called national
unification." The five-color flag used as the national flag at that
time represented the unification of the five main races. In March the
Nanjing-based provisional senate of the Republic of China promulgated
the republic's first constitution, the Provisional Constitution of the
Republic of China, in which it was clearly stipulated that Tibet was a
part of the territory of the Republic of China.
In order to form the first parliament of the Republic of China, the
Beijing government promulgated on August 10, 1912 the Organic Law of
the Parliament of the Republic of China and the law on elections for
members of parliament. These statutes specified the methods for
Tibetans to participate in elections, and the right of elected
parliamentary members to have a direct say in government affairs. When
the Chinese Kuomintang formed the national government in 1927 in
Nanjing and held the national assembly in 1931, both the 13th Dalai
Lama and the 9th Bainqen Erdeni sent representatives to participate.
Article I of the General Outline of the Constitution for the Political
Tutelage Period of the Republic of China, formulated during the
assembly, stipulated that Tibet belonged to the territories of the
Republic of China. The Tibetan local government and the Bainqen's
administrative body, Kampus Assembly, also sent representatives to the
national assembly in 1946 called by the Nanjing national government.
As in the previous Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, the central
government of the Republic of China exercised jurisdiction over Tibet.
The Bureau of Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs (renamed Mongolian and
Tibetan Council in May 1914) was established by the central government
in 1912 to replace the Qing Dynasty's Department in Charge of
Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs. The bureau was responsible for Tibetan
local affairs. The central government also appointed a representative
to Tibet to carry out the responsibilities of the high commissioners
stationed in Tibet by the Qing Dynasty. After the Nanjing national
government was set up, a Commission for Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs
was established in 1929 to handle the administrative affairs of the
Tibetans, Mongolians and other ethnic minorities. In April 1940 the
Commission for Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs opened an office in Lhasa
as the permanent mission of the central government in Tibet.
Traditionally, the Dalai Lama, the Bainqen Erdeni and other high
Living Buddhas had to be recognized and appointed by the central
government in order to secure their political and religious legal
status in Tibet. Despite the fact that incessant foreign aggression
and civil wars weakened the central government of the Republic of
China, it continued to grant honorific titles to the Dalai Lama and
the Bainqen Erdeni. On many occasions the Dalai Lama and the Bainqen
Erdeni expressed their sup****t for national unification and for the
central government. In 1919, the 13th Dalai Lama told a delegation
sent by the Beijing central government, "It is not my true intention
to be on intimate terms with the British.... I swear to be loyal to
our own country and jointly work for the happiness of the five races."
In his later years (in 1930), he said, "My greatest wish is for the
real peace and unification of China." "Since it is all Chinese
territory, why distinguish between you and us?" He further elaborated,
"The British truly intend to tempt me, but I know that our sovereignty
must not be lost." He also publicly expressed his determination "not
to affiliate with the British nor forsake the central government" (Liu
Manqing: A Mission to Xikang and Tibet). The 9th Bainqen noted in his
will, "The great plan I have promoted all my life is the sup****t of
the central government, the spread of Buddhism, the promotion of the
unity of the five nationalities and the guarantee of national
prosperity."
The death of the 13th Dalai Lama in December 1933 was re****ted to the
central government by the Tibetan local government in the traditional
manner. The national government sent a special envoy to Tibet for the
memorial ceremony. It also approved the Living Buddha Razheng as the
regent to assume the duties and power of the Dalai Lama. The Tibetan
local government also followed the age-old system in re****ting to the
central government all the procedures that should be followed in
search for the reincarnation of the late 13th Dalai Lama. The present
14th Dalai Lama was born in Qinghai Province. Originally named Lhamo
Toinzhub, he was selected as one of the incarnate boys at the age of
2. After receiving a re****t submitted by the Tibetan local government
in 1939, the central government ordered the Qinghai authorities to
send troops to escort him to Lhasa. After an inspection tour in Lhasa
by Wu Zhongxin, chief of the Commission for Mongolian and Tibetan
Affairs, in 1940, Chiang Kai-shek, then head of the central
government, approved Tibetan Regent Razheng's request to waive the lot-
drawing convention, and the chairman of the national government issued
an official decree conferring the title of the 14th Dalai Lama on
Lhamo Toinzhub.
People's Republic of China
The People's Republic of China was founded in 1949 after decisive
victories in the Chinese People's War of Liberation. Beiping, Hunan
and the provinces bordering on TibetYunnan, Xinjiang and Xikangwere
all liberated peacefully from the rule of the former Kuomintang
government. In light of the history and reality of Tibet, the central
people's government decided to do the same for Tibet. In January 1950,
the central government formally notified the local authorities of
Tibet to "send delegates to Beijing to negotiate the peaceful
liberation of Tibet." However, the then Tibetan Regent Dagzhag Ngawang
Sungrab and others who were in control of the Tibetan local
government, sup****ted by some foreign forces and disregarding the
interests of the country and the Tibetans, rejected the central
government's call for negotiation on the peaceful liberation of Tibet.
They deployed the main body of the Tibetan army in the Qamdo area in
east Tibet for armed resistance. Under such cir***stances, the central
government was left with no choice and had to order the People's
Liberation Army (PLA) to cross the Jinsha River in October 1950, and
Qamdo was liberated.
Following this event, the central government once again urged the
Tibetan local government to send delegates to Beijing for
negotiations. The central government's adherence to the policy of
peaceful negotiations greatly sup****ted and inspired the patriotic
forces in Tibet. The upper-class patriotics, represented by Ngapoi
Ngawang Jigme, stood for peaceful negotiation, winning the endorsement
and sup****t of the majority. The 14th Dalai Lama who had assumed power
ahead of time accepted the proposal. In his letter to the central
people's government in January 1951, he said, "I have come to govern
at the warm and earnest request of all Tibetans"; "I have decided to
fulfill the people's desire through peaceful means"; and delegates
would be sent "to seek a solution to the Tibetan issue with the
central people's government." In February 1951, the Dalai Lama
appointed Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme as his chief plenipotentiary and Kemai
Soinam Wangdui, Tubdain Daindar, Tubdain Legmoin and Sampo Dainzin
Toinzhub as delegates and sent them to Beijing to handle with full
power the negotiations with the central people's government.
On May 23, 1951, the Agreement of the Central People's Government and
the Local Government of Tibet on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation
of Tibet (i.e., the 17-Article Agreement) was signed after the
delegates of the central people's government and the Tibetan local
government had reached agreement on a series of questions concerning
Tibet's peaceful liberation. It was stipulated in the agreement that
the Tibetan people should unite and drive out imperialist aggressive
forces from Tibet; the local government of Tibet should actively
assist the PLA in entering Tibet and consolidating national defense;
national regional autonomy would be instituted in Tibet; the central
government would not alter the existing political system in Tibet or
the established status, functions and powers of the Dalai Lama and the
Bainqen Erdeni, and officials of various ranks would continue to hold
office as usual; the policy of freedom of religious belief would be
upheld and the religious beliefs, customs and habits of the Tibetan
people would be respected; the spoken and written language and school
education of the Tibetan nationality would be developed step by step,
along with agriculture, livestock raising, industry and commerce in
order to improve the people's livelihood; foreign affairs involving
the Tibet region would be under the unified management of the central
people's government. The agreement also explicitly stipulated that in
matters relating to reforms in Tibet, there would be no coercion on
the part of the central authorities, and reform would be carried out
by the Tibetan local government of its own accord.
The agreement for the peaceful liberation of Tibet enjoyed the
approval and sup****t of the people from every ethnic group in Tibet. A
conference of all ecclesiastic and secular officials and
representatives of the three most prominent monasteries was called by
the Tibetan local government between September 26 and 29, 1951 to
specifically discuss the agreement. A re****t to the Dalai Lama was
approved at the end of the conference. It stated, "The 17-Article
Agreement that has been signed is of great and unrivaled benefit to
the grand cause of the Dalai and to Buddhism, politics, economy and
other aspects of life in Tibet. Naturally it should be implemented."
The Dalai Lama sent a telegram to Chairman Mao Zedong on October 24,
1951, in which he wrote, "On the basis of friend****p, delegates of the
two sides signed on May 23, 1951 the Agreement on Measures for the
Peaceful Liberation of Tibet. The Tibetan local government as well as
ecclesiastic and secular people unanimously sup****t this agreement,
and under the leader****p of Chairman Mao and the central people's
government, will actively assist the PLA troops entering Tibet in
consolidating national defense, ousting imperialist influences from
Tibet and safeguarding the unification of the territory and the
sovereignty of the motherland." The Bainqen Lama and the Kampus
Assembly also issued a statement, pointing out that the agreement
"conforms fully to the interests of all ethnic nationalities of China,
particularly those of the Tibetans." On October 26, with the sup****t
of the Tibetan people, the PLA entered Lhasa without a hitch.
After the peaceful liberation of Tibet, the central people's
government and upper-class patriotic forces of Tibet did a great deal
of work to implement the 17-Article Agreement. In 1954 the Dalai Lama
and the Bainqen Erdeni came to Beijing to attend the First Session of
the National People's Congress (NPC) of the People's Republic of
China. In his speech at the congress, the Dalai Lama fully confirmed
the achievements in the implementation of the 17-Article Agreement
over the preceding three years, and expressed his warm sup****t for the
principles and provisions concerning national regional autonomy in the
draft of New China's first Constitution, which was under discussion at
the congress. Talking about religious issues, the Dalai Lama said that
the Tibetan people had deeply held religious beliefs, and they were
formerly made anxious by fallacious rumors spread by some people that
"the Communist Party and the people's government will extinguish
religion." However, he added, "the rumors that aim to sow discord have
all been exploded and the Tibetan people know from our own experience
that we have freedom of religious belief." He expressed the desire to
gradually build Tibet into a land of prosperity and happiness under
the leader****p of the central people's government and with the help of
people of other ethnic groups. On September 20, the Dalai Lama, the
Bainqen Erdeni and the other Tibetan deputies, along with the deputies
from other ethnic groups, approved the Constitution of the People's
Republic of China by casting their ballots. At the session, the Dalai
Lama was elected a vice-chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, and
Bainqen Erdeni a member of the NPC Standing Committee. In their
capacity as state leaders, they exercised their rights of
participating in the management of state affairs in accordance with
the Constitution.
On April 22, 1956, the Dalai Lama became chairman of the Preparatory
Committee for the Tibet Autonomous Region. In his speech at the
inaugural meeting, the Dalai Lama said, "In 1951, I sent delegates to
Beijing to negotiate with delegates of the central people's
government. On the basis of fraternal unity, the Agreement of the
Central People's Government and the Local Government of Tibet on
Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet was signed. Since then,
the Tibetan people shook off forever the fetters of imperialist
enslavement and trammels and rejoined the large national family. Like
our sibling races throughout the country, the Tibetan people fully
enjoy all rights of national equality, and are embarking on a bright
road of freedom and happiness."
II. Origins of So-Called "Tibetan Independence"
For more than 700 years the central government of China has
continuously exercised sovereignty over Tibet, and Tibet has never
been an independent state. Now millions of files in both Chinese and
Tibetan recording historical facts over more than seven centuries are
being kept in the archives of Beijing, Nanjing and Lhasa. No
government of any country in the world has ever recognized Tibet as an
independent state. British Foreign Secretary Lord Lansdowne, in a
formal instruction he sent out in 1904, called Tibet "a province of
the Chinese Empire." In his speech at the Lok Sabba in 1954, Indian
Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru said, "Over the past several hundred
years, as far as I know, at no time has any foreign country denied
China's sovereignty over Tibet." The Dalai clique and overseas anti-
China forces used to claim that between the 1911 Revolution and the
founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Tibet became a
country "exercising full authority." Historical facts refute such a
fallacy. The simple reality that the installation of the 14th Dalai
Lama needed the approval of the national government is sufficient
proof that Tibet did not possess any independent power during that
period. Therefore, the so-called "Tibetan independence" which the
Dalai clique and overseas anti-China forces fervently propagate is
nothing but a fiction of the imperialists who committed aggression
against China in modern history.
How Have Imperialists Instigated Tibetan Independence?
There was no such word as "independence" in the Tibetan vocabulary at
the beginning of the 20th century. After the British imperialists
started the Opium War of aggression against China in 1840, China was
reduced from an independent sovereign country to a semi-colonial
country. Imperialist forces took advantage of a weak Qing Dynasty and
began plotting to carve up China, Tibet included.
In order to bring Tibet into its sphere of influence, British
aggressors invaded China's Tibet twice in 1888 and 1903. The Tibetan
army and civilians rose to resist but were defeated. In the second
aggressive war against Tibet, the British army occupied Lhasa, and the
13th Dalai Lama was forced to flee from the city. The invaders
compelled the Tibetan local government officials to sign the Lhasa
Convention. But because the Ministry of External Affairs of the Qing
government believed the Lhasa Convention would do damage to national
sovereignty, the high commissioner stationed in Tibet by the Qing
government refused to sign it, leaving it ineffectual.
After their failure to assume full control of Tibet through direct
military incursion, the imperialists changed their tack and began
plotting to separate Tibet from China. On August 31, 1907, Britain and
Russia signed the Convention Between Great Britain and Russia, which
changed China's sovereignty over Tibet into "suzerainty." This marked
the first time Chin's sovereignty over Tibet was altered into
"suzerainty" in international do***ents.
The year following the 1911 Revolution, Britain took advantage of the
political chaos in China after the collapse of the Qing Dynasty and
the new birth of the Republic of China, and put before the Chinese
Ministry of Foreign Affairs a five-point demand, indicating the denial
of China's sovereignty over Tibet. When the Chinese government
rejected the British demand, the British blocked all the roads leading
from India to Tibet. In 1913 the British government inveigled the
Tibetan authorities into declaring independence and proposed that
"Britain be the weaponry supplier after total independence of Tibet;"
"Tibet accept British envoys' supervision of Tibetan financial and
military affairs in return for Britain's sup****t of Tibetan
independence;" "Britain be responsible for resisting the army of the
Republic of China when it reaches Tibet;" "Tibet adopt an open policy
and allow freedom of movement of the British." (Zhu Xiu: 60-Year
Chronology of Tibet) However, Britain's schemes failed.
In 1913, taking advantage of the fact that Yuan ****kai, who had
usurped the presidency of the Republic of China, was eager to get
foreign diplomatic recognition and international loans, the British
government forced the Beijing government to participate in a
tripartite conference of China, Britain and Tibet, namely the Simla
Conference held at the behest of the British government. Before the
conference, Charles Bell political officer sent to Sikkim by the
British-Indian government, privately met with Lon-chen Shatra, the
representative of the Tibetan local government to the conference. Bell
trumpeted to Lon-chen Shatra that "suzerainty" implied "independence."
In his book Tibet: Past and Present, Bell wrote, "When I met Lon-chen
Shatra in Gyantse, I advised him to bring down all the do***ents which
he could collect bearing on the Tibetan relation****p to China in the
past, and on the former's claims to the various provinces and
districts which had from time to time been occupied by China." Stirred
up by the British, the Tibetan representative raised the slogan of
"Tibetan independence" for the first time. He also claimed "Tibetan
territory includes Qinghai, Litang, Batang and Dajianlu." When these
demands were rejected by the representative of the Chinese government,
the British delegate introduced the pre-arranged "compromise" scheme,
which divided China's Tibetan-inhabited areas into "inner Tibet" and
"outer Tibet." "Inner Tibet," including Tibetan-inhabited areas in
Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, would be under the
jurisdiction of the Chinese government. With regard to "outer Tibet,"
including Tibet and west Xikang, the Chinese government was requested
to "recognize the autonomy of outer Tibet" and "refrain from
interfering in its internal affairs;" "however, China may still send
its high commissioner to Lhasa and maintain an escort army of no more
than 300 soldiers." The essence of this "compromise" scheme was to
change China's sovereignty over Tibet into "suzerainty," and separate
Tibet from the authority of the Chinese government under the pretext
of "autonomy." Naturally these unreasonable demands were strongly
opposed by the Chinese people. On July 3, 1914, the Chinese government
representative Chen Yifan upon instruction refused to sign the Simla
Convention. In his statement, Chen said, "Government of China refuses
to recognize any agreement which His Majesty's Government and Tibet
might conclude independently either now or in the future." The Chinese
government also sent a note to the British government, reiterating its
position. Therefore, the conference broke down.
In the summer of 1942, the Tibetan local government, with the sup****t
of the British representative, suddenly announced the establishment of
a "foreign affairs bureau," and openly carried out "Tibetan
independence" activities. These actions, as soon as they were made
public, were condemned unanimously by the Chinese people. The national
government also issued a stern warning. Under this pressure, the
Tibetan local government had no choice but to withdraw its decision
and re****ted the change to the national government. At the "Asian
Relations Conference" held in New Delhi in March 1947, the British
imperialists plotted behind the curtains to invite Tibetan
representatives and even identified Tibet as an independent country on
the map of Asia in the conference hall and in the array of national
flags. The organizers were forced to rectify this after the Chinese
delegation made serious protests.
Around the end of 1949, the American Lowell Thomas roamed Tibet in the
guise of a "radio commentator" to explore the "possibility of aid that
Wa****ngton could give Tibet." He wrote in a US newspaper: " The United
States is ready to recognize Tibet as an independent and free
country." In the first half of 1950, a load of American weaponry was
****pped into Tibet through Calcutta in order to help resist the PLA's
entry into Tibet. On November 1 of the same year, US Secretary of
State Dean Acheson openly slandered China's liberation of its own
territory of Tibet as "invasion." In the same month the United States
prodded some other countries to propose a motion at the United Nations
for intervention in China's Tibet. The scheme was unsuccessful in face
of the stern stand of the Chinese government and the opposition of
some countries.
Historical facts over more than a century clearly demonstrate that so-
called "Tibetan independence" was, in reality, cooked up by old and
new imperialists out of their crave to wrest Tibet from China. The
14th Dalai Lama in his early years pointed out, "It was the
imperialists who, taking advantage of the Tibetan people's antipathy
to the Qing Dynasty and the reactionary Kuomintang government,
attempted by enticement, deception and instigation to get the Tibetan
people to separate from the motherland and come under their oppression
and enslavement."
How Does the 1959 Armed Rebellion Occur?
Before peaceful liberation in 1951, Tibet was under a feudal serfdom
characterized by the dictator****p of upper-class monks and nobles. The
broad m***** of serfs in Tibet eagerly wanted to break the shackles of
serfdom. After the peaceful liberation, many enlightened people of the
upper and middle cl***** also realized that if the old system was not
reformed, the Tibetan people would never attain prosperity. In light
of Tibetan history and the region's special situation, the central
people's government adopted a very cir***spect attitude toward the
reform of the social system in Tibet. The 17-Article Agreement
stipulated that the central government would not use coercion to
implement such reform and that it was to be carried out by the Tibetan
local government on its own. During his visit to India in January
1957, Premier Zhou Enlai of the State Council handed a letter from
Chairman Mao Zedong to the Dalai Lama and Bainqen Lama and the
accompanying Tibetan local government senior officials. The letter
informed them of the decision of the central authorities that reform
would not be conducted during the Second Five-Year Plan period
(1958-62); whether reform should be conducted after six years would
still be decided by Tibet according to its own situation and
conditions then.
However, some members of the Tibetan ruling class were hostile to
reform and wanted to preserve the serfdom forever so as to maintain
their own vested interests. They deliberately violated and sabotaged
the 17-Article Agreement and intensified their efforts to split the
motherland. Between March and April 1952, Sicab Lukangwa and Losang
Zhaxi of the Tibetan local government gave secret sup****t to the
illicit organization "the people's conference" to oppose the 17-
Article Agreement and create disturbance in Lhasa, demanding that the
PLA "pull out of Tibet." In 1955, Galoin Surkang Wangqen Geleg of the
Tibetan local government and others secretly plotted an armed
rebellion in the Tibetan-inhabited area of Xikang Province. Rebellion
broke out in that area in 1956 and the rebels besieged the local
government institutions and massacred hundreds of government staff as
well as common people. In May 1957, with the sup****t of Galoins Neuxar
Tubdain Tarba and Xainga Gyurme Doje, a rebel organization named "four
rivers and six ranges" and later the rebel armed forces named
"religion guards" were founded. They raised the slogan of "Tibetan
Independence" and "opposition to reform" and further intensified their
rebellious activities. The armed rebels harassed Qamdo, Dengqen, Heihe
and Shannan. They killed cadres, disrupted communication lines, and
attacked institutions and army troops stationed there by the central
authorities. They looted, cruelly persecuted people and raped women. A
merchant named Dongda Bazha in Nedong County was captured together
with his wife because he refused to take part in the rebellion. The
rebels tied up the couple and lashed them before killing the husband
and raping his wife. The then Tibetan local government admitted that
many Tibetan people lodged complaints against the rebels with it. In
August 1958 alone, there were more than 70 complaints.
The central people's government, in the spirit of national unity,
repeatedly urged the Tibetan local government to punish the rebels to
maintain public order. Meanwhile, it told the Galoins of the Tibetan
local government, "The central government will not change its decision
on postponing reform in Tibet and in the future, when the reform is
conducted, the policy to be followed will still be one of peaceful
reform." However, the reactionary clique of the upper social strata in
Tibet took the extreme forbearance of the central government as a sign
of weakness and easiness to bully. They d, "For nine years, the Hans
have not dared to touch our most glorious and sacrosanct system. When
we attacked them, they could only parry our blows without being able
to strike back. So long as we transfer a large number of troops to
Lhasa from outside, the Hans will surely flee at the first blow. If
they don't run away, we will carry His Holiness the Dalai Lama to
Shannan, and gather our strength there to launch a counter-attack and
seize back Lhasa. If all these efforts fail, we can go to India."
The armed rebellion in Tibet was sup****ted from the beginning by
foreign anti-China forces. In his book The United States, Tibet and
China American Norman C. Hall reveals that in 1957 the CIA culled six
young men from among Tibetans residing abroad and sent them to Guam of
the United States to receive training in map-reading, radio
transmission, shooting and parachuting. Subsequently, the United
States trained 170 "Kamba guerrillas" in batches in Hale Camp,
Colorado. The trained "Kamba guerrillas" were air-dropped or sneaked
into Tibet to "launch an effective resistance movement" to "oppose the
Chinese occupation." An article entitled The CIA Tibetan Conspiracy in
the Hong Kong-based Far Eastern Economic Review disclosed in its
September 5 issue of 1975 that in May 1958, two agents trained by the
Americans in the first batch brought a transceiver to the headquarter
set up by the rebel leader Anzhugcang Goinbo Zhaxi in Shannan to make
contact with the CIA. Before long, the United States air-dropped arms
and ammunition, including 20 sub-machine guns, two mortars, 100
rifles, 600 hand-grenades, 600 artillery shells and close to 40,000
bullets, to the rebels in the plateau called Chigu Lama Thang. During
the same period, the United States clandestinely ****pped large amounts
of arms and ammunition overland to the rebels entrenched in the
Shannan area.
With the collusion of the Tibetan serf-owners bent on retaining
serfdom and the foreign anti-China forces, the rebellious activities
soon became rampant. The climax was the elaborately planned armed
rebellion in Lhasa on March 10, 1959.
On February 7, the Dalai Lama took the initiative and said to Deng
Shaodong, deputy commander of the Tibet Military Area Command, and
other officers, "I was told that after its return from studies in the
hinterland, the Song and Dance Ensemble under the Tibet Military Area
Command has a very good repetoire. I would like to see its show.
Please arrange it for me." Deng and the other officers expressed
immediate readiness and asked the Dalai Lama to fix the time and place
for performance. They also conveyed the Dalai Lama's wish to Surkang
and other Galoins of the Tibetan local government and Paglha Tubdain
Weidain, adjutant general of the Dalai Lama. On March 8, the Dalai
Lama said he would go to the performance in the Tibet Military Area
Command Auditorium at 3 pm on March 10. The Tibet Military Area
Command carefully prepared for the occasion. But on the evening of
March 9, the Miboin (mayor) of Lhasa provoked citizens by saying:
tomorrow the Dalai Lama will go to the Military Area Command for a
banquet and a performance; the Hans have prepared a plane to kidnap
the Dalai Lama to Beijing; every household should send people to Norbu
Lingka, the residence of the Dalai Lama, to petition him not to attend
the performance in the Military Area Command. The next morning, the
rebels coerced more than 2,000 people to mass at Norbu Lingka,
spreading the rumor that "the Military Area Command is planning to
poison the Dalai Lama" and shouting slogans such as "Tibetan
Independence" and "Away with the Hans." The rebels hit and wounded
Sampo Cewang Rinzin, a former Galoin of the Tibetan local government
and then a deputy commander of the Tibet Military Area Command. They
stoned to death Kainqoin Pagbalha Soinam Gyamco, a progressive patriot
and member of the Preparatory Committee for the Tibet Autonomous
Region. His body was tied to the tail of a horse and dragged through
downtown as a warning. Subsequently, the rebel leaders convened the so-
called "people's congress" and "people's conference of the independent
state of Tibet," intensifying their efforts to organize and expand
armed rebellion. They brazenly tore up the 17-Article Agreement and d
"the independence of Tibet," launching a full-scale armed rebellion
against the motherland.
Although Norbu Lingka was controlled by the rebels and it was hard to
make contact with the Dalai Lama, acting representative of the central
government Tan Guansan managed to send three letters to the Dalai Lama
on March 10, 11 and 15 through patriots. In them, Tan expressed his
understanding of the Dalai Lama's situation as well as his concern for
the latter's safety. He pointed out that the rebels were making
reckless military provocations and demanded that the Tibetan local
government immediately work to stop them. The Dalai Lama penned three
letters in reply to Tan on March 11, 12 and 16. In his letters, the
Dalai Lama wrote, "Reactionary, evil elements are carrying out
activities endangering me under the pretext of ensuring my safety. I
am taking measures to calm things down." "The unlawful activities of
the reactionary clique cause me endless worry and sorrow.... As to the
incidents of yesterday and the day before, which were brought about
under the pretext of ensuring my safety and have seriously estranged
relations between the central people's government and the local
government, I am making every possible effort to deal with them." In
the letter of March 16, he said that he had "educated" and "severely
criticized" officials of the Tibetan local government. He also
expressed the desire to still go to the Military Area Command a few
days later. All three letters of the Dalai Lama have been photographed
by re****ters of the Xinhua News Agency and published, and are still
well preserved.
However, on the evening of March 17, Galoins Surkang, Neuxar and
Xaisur and other rebel leaders held the Dalai Lama under duress and
carried him away from Lhasa to Shannan, the "base" of the armed rebel
forces. When the armed rebellion failed, they fled to India.
After the Dalai Lama left Lhasa, about 7,000 rebels gathered to wage a
full-scale attack on the Party, government and army institutions
before dawn on March 20. The PLA, driven beyond its forbearance,
launched under orders a counterattack at 10 am the same day. With the
sup****t of patriotic Tibetan monks and lay people, the PLA completely
put down the armed rebellion in Lhasa within two days. Before long,
the PLA suppressed the armed rebellion in Shannan, where the rebels
had been entrenched for a long time. Armed rebel forces who fled to
other places were dissolved.
The PLA was highly disciplined in the course of quelling the rebellion
and this won the wholehearted sup****t of Buddhist monks and laymen.
They took the initiative to help the PLA in putting down the
rebellion. Various self-defense, joint-defense, livestock protection
and other forms of joint-defense teams sprang up in various places to
build roads, provide trans****t, dispatch mail, serve as guides, boil
tea, send water, stand sentry and give first-aid to wounded PLA
soldiers, effectively isolating the rebels.
III. The Dalai Clique's Separatist Activities and the Central
Government's Policy
How Does the Dalai Clique Carry Out His Separatist Activities?
Starting from the point of maintaining the unification of the
motherland and national unity, the central government adopted an
attitude of patient waiting towards the Dalai Lama after he fled
abroad. His position as a vice-chairman of the NPC Standing Committee
was preserved until 1964. However, surrounded by foreign anti-China
forces and Tibetan separatists, the Dalai Lama completely renounced
the patriotic stand which he once expressed and engaged in numerous
activities to split the motherland.
Publicly advocating that "Tibet is an independent state." In June
1959, the Dalai Lama issued a statement in Mussoorie, India which read
"Tibet had actually been independent." In March 1991, during his visit
to Britain, the Dalai Lama told the press that Tibet "is the biggest
occupied country in the world today." He proclaimed on many occasions
that "the task of realizing the independence of Tibet has fallen upon
all Tibetans in and outside Tibet."
Setting up the "government in exile." In the early 1960s, the Dalai
clique convened the "people's congress of Tibet" in Dharamsala, India,
which established the so-called "Tibetan government in exile." A so-
called "constitution" was promulgated, which states that "the Dalai
Lama is the head of state," "the ministers shall be appointed by the
Dalai Lama" and "all work of the government shall not be approved
without the consent of the Dalai Lama." The 1991 revised
"constitution" of the Dalai clique still stipulates that the Dalai is
"the head of the state." The Dalai Lama and his so-called "government
in exile" kept levying an "independence tax" on Tibetans residing
abroad, established "offices" in some countries, published magazines
and books advocating "Tibetan independence" and engaged in political
activities for "Tibetan independence."
Reorganizing the armed rebel forces. In September 1960, the Dalai
clique re-organized the "religion guards of the four rivers and six
ranges" in Mustang, Nepal, which carried on military harassment
activities along the Chinese border for ten years. Its first commander-
in-chief Anzhugcang Goinbo Zhaxi wrote in his memoirs Four Rivers and
Six Ranges that "a series of attacks were organized on Chinese
outposts" and "sometimes, 100 or 200 Tibetan guerrillas went as far as
100 miles into the area occupied by the Chinese." The Dalai Lama wrote
articles praising Goinbo Zhaxi.
Spreading rumors and calumnies and plotting riots. Ignoring facts, the
Dalai Lama fabricated numerous lies to sow dissension among the
various nationalities and incite the Tibetan people to oppose the
central government during his 30-year self-exile abroad. He said that
"the 17-Article Agreement was imposed on Tibet under armed force";
"the Hans have massacred 1.2 million Tibetans"; "owing to Han
immigration, the Tibetans have become a minority in Tibet"; "the
Communists in Tibet force women to practice birth control and
abortion"; the government opposes religious freedom and persecutes
religious people; traditional Tibetan culture and art are in danger of
extinction; the natural resources in Tibet have been seriously
depleted; there is severe environmental pollution in Tibet, etc. The
riots in Lhasa from September 1987 to March 1989 were incited by the
Dalai clique and plotted by rebels who were sent back to Tibet. The
riots incurred severe losses to the lives and property of Tibetans.
The Dalai's words and deeds have showed that he is no longer only a
religious leader as he claims. On the contrary, he has become the
political leader engaged in long-term divisive activities abroad.
'Tibetan Indepedence' Brooks No Discussion
The central government has adopted a consistent policy towards the
Dalai Lama. It urges him to renounce separatism and return to the
stand of patriotism and unity.
On December 28, 1978, the Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping said to AP
correspondents that "the Dalai Lama may return, but only as a Chinese
citizen"; "we have but one demand patriotism. And we say that anyone
is welcome, whether he embraces patriotism early or late." This
indicates the central government's attitude of welcoming the Dalai
Lama back to the motherland.
The Dalai Lama sent representatives to Beijing to contact the central
government on February 28, 1979. On March 12, Deng Xiaoping met the
Dalai Lama's representatives and said to them, "The Dalai Lama is
welcome to come back. He can go out again after his return." With
regard to the central government's negotiation with the side of the
Dalai Lama, Deng pointed out, "Now, whether the dialogue to discuss
and settle problems will be between the central government and Tibet
as a state or Tibet as a part of China? This is a practical question."
"Essentially Tibet is a part of China. This is the criterion for
judging right or wrong."
The central government did everything possible to persuade the Dalai
Lama and his followers, through negotiations, to give up their
separatism and return to the motherland. The central government
leaders have since 1980 met a number of delegations sent back by the
Dalai Lama and reiterated on many occasions the central government's
policy towards the Dalai Lama.
To satisfy the desire of both local and overseas Tibetans for visits
and contacts, the central government has formulated and practiced the
policy of free movement in and out of the country. It has also made
clear that all patriots belong to one big family, whether they rally
to the common cause now or later, and bygones can be bygones. From
August 1979 to September 1980, central government departments
concerned received three visiting delegations and two groups of
relatives sent by the Dalai Lama. Most of the Dalai Lama's kin
residing abroad have made return visits to China. Since 1979, Tibet
and other Tibetan-inhabited areas have received some 8,000 overseas
Tibetans who came to visit relatives or for sightseeing, and helped
settle nearly 2,000 Tibetan compatriots.
Regretfully, the Dalai Lama did not draw on the good will of the
central government. Instead, he further intensified his separatist
activities. At a meeting of the Human Rights Subcommittee of the US
Congress held in September 1987, the Dalai Lama put forward a "five-
point proposal" regarding the so-called status of Tibet. He continued
to advocate "Tibetan Independence," and instigate and plot a number of
riots in Lhasa. In June 1988, the Dalai Lama raised a so-called
"Strasbourg proposal" for the solution of the Tibet issue. On the
premise that Tibet "had always been" an independent state, the
proposal interpreted the issue of a regional national autonomy within
a country as a relation****p between a suzerain and a vassal state, and
between a protector and a protected state, thus denying China's
sovereignty over Tibet and advocating the independence of Tibet in a
disguised way. The central government naturally rejected the proposal,
because it was a conspiracy the imperialists once hatched in order to
carve up China. The Chinese government solemnly d, "China's
sovereignty over Tibet brooks no denial. Of Tibet there could be no
independence, nor semi-independence, nor independence in disguise."
Nevertheless, the central government still hopes that the Dalai Lama
would rein in at the brink of the precipice and change his mind. In
early 1989, the 10th Bainqen Lama passed away. Taking into account the
historical religious ties between various generations of the Dalai
Lama and the Bainqen Lama as teacher and student, the Buddhist
Association of China, with the approval of the central government,
invited the Dalai Lama to come back to attend the Bainqen Lama's
memorial ceremonies. President Zhao Puchu of the association handed a
letter of invitation to a personal representative of the Dalai Lama,
providing the Dalai Lama with a good op****tunity to meet with people
in the Buddhist circles in China after 30 years of exile. But the
Dalai Lama rejected the invitation.
As 1989 witnessed a new international anti-China wave, the Nobel Peace
Prize Committee in Norway, with clearly political motives, awarded the
1989 Nobel Peace Prize to the Dalai Lama, giving its strong sup****t to
the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan separatists. Since then, the Dalai Lama
has travelled the world, advocating Tibet's separation from China.
The Dalai Lama simultaneously intensified his efforts to incite and
plot riots in Tibet. On January 19, 1990, he said over the BBC: If the
Beijing government fails to hold talks with him on his plan of Tibet's
autonomy within a year, he will have to change his stand of compromise
with China; many young Tibetans stand for the use of force. On April
4, 1991, the Dalai Lama said in the Tibetan language program of the
Voice of America, "All matters shall be further strengthened for
Tibet's independence." Again on October 10 the same year, he tried
instigation in a similar program, "At present, so large a number of
Hans are pouring into Tibet that many young Tibetans cannot find jobs.
This adds a further element of instability in the Tibetan society.
Therefore, new riots are quite possible."
It is because the Dalai Lama sticks to his position of "Tibetan
independence" and continues his efforts to split the motherland in and
outside China that contacts between the central government and the
representatives of the Dalai Lama have yielded no results.
In an interview with Xinhua News Agency re****ters on May 19, 1991, on
the eve of the 40th anniversary of Tibet's peaceful liberation,
Premier Li Peng of the State Council of the People's Republic of China
pointed out, "The central government's policy towards the Dalai Lama
has been consistent and remains unchanged. We have only one
fundamental principle, namely, Tibet is an inalienable part of China.
On this fundamental issue there is no room for haggling. The central
government has always expressed its willingness to have contact with
the Dalai Lama, but he must stop activities to split the motherland
and change his position for 'Tibetan independence.' All matters except
'Tibetan independence' can be discussed."
The central government is willing to contact and negotiate with the
Dalai Lama; the door remains open. The central government's policy
towards the Dalai Lama is also clear. To be responsible for the
history, the Chinese nation and its 1.1 billion people, including the
Tibetan people, the central government will make not the slightest
concession on the fundamental issue of maintaining the motherland's
unification. Any activity attempting to realize "Tibetan independence"
and split the motherland by relying on foreign forces is an
ignominious move betraying the motherland and the whole Chinese nation
including the Tibetan nationality. The central government resolutely
denounces this kind of action and will never allow it to succeed. The
central government will continue to implement a series of special
policies and preferential measures to promote the construction and
development of Tibet so as to enhance national unity, construct a
prosperous economy, enrich culture and improve the people's
livelihood. Any activity sabotaging stability and unity in Tibet and
any unlawful deed creating disturbance and inciting riots runs against
the basic interests of the Tibetan people and will be cracked down on
relentlessly.
So long as the Dalai Lama can give up his divisive stand and admit
that Tibet is an inalienable part of China, the central government is
willing to hold talks at any time with him. The Dalai Lama is warmly
welcome to return to the embrace of the motherland at an early date
and do some work that is conducive to maintaining the motherland's
unification, the national unity, as well as the affluent and happy
lives of the Tibetan people.
Part Two
IV. Feudal Serfdom in Old Tibet
Before the Democratic Reform of 1959 Tibet had long been a society of
feudal serfdom under the despotic religion-political rule of lamas and
nobles, a society which was darker and more cruel than the European
serfdom of the Middle Ages. Tibet's serf-owners were principally the
three major estate-holders: local administrative officials, nobles and
upper-ranking lamas in monasteries. Although they accounted for less
than 5 percent of Tibet's population, they owned all of Tibet's
farmland, pastures, forests, mountains and rivers as well as most
livestock. Statistics released in the early years of the Qing Dynasty
in the 17th century indicate that Tibet then had more than 3 million
ke of farmland (15 ke equal to 1 hectare), of which 30.9 percent was
owned by officials, 29.6 percent by nobles, and 39.5 percent by
monasteries and upper-ranking lamas. Before the 1959 Democratic
Reform, Tibet had 197 hereditary noble families and 25 big noble
families, with the biggest numbering seven to eight, each holding
dozens of manors and tens of thousand of ke of land.
Serfs made up 90 percent of old Tibet's population. They were called
tralpa in Tibetan (namely people who tilled plots of land assigned to
them and had to provide corvee labor for the serf-owners) and duiqoin
(small households with chimneys emitting smoke). They had no land or
personal freedom, and the survival of each of them depended on an
estate-holder's manor. In addition, nangzan who comprised 5 percent of
the population were hereditary household slaves, deprived of any means
of production and personal freedom.
Serf-owners literally possessed the living bodies of their serfs.
Since serfs were at their disposal as their private property, they
could trade and transfer them, present them as gifts, make them
mortgages for a debt and exchange them. According to historical
records, in 1943 the aristocrat Chengmoim Norbu Wanggyai sold 100
serfs to a monk official at Garzhol Kamsa, in Zhigoin area, at the
cost of 60 liang of Tibetan silver (about four silver dollars) per
serf. He also sent 400 serfs to the Gundelin Monastery as mortgage for
a debt of 3,000 pin Tibetan silver (about 10,000 silver dollars). Serf-
owners had a firm grip on the birth, death and marriage of serfs. Male
and female serfs not belonging to the same owner had to pay
"redemption fees" before they could marry. In some cases, an exchange
was made with a man swapped for man and a woman for woman. In other
cases, after a couple wedded, the owner****p of both husband and wife
remained unchanged, but their sons would belong to the husband's owner
and their daughters to the wife's owner. Children of serfs were
registered the moment they were born, setting their life-long fate as
serfs.
Serf-owners ruthlessly exploited serfs through corvee and usury. The
corvee tax system of old Tibet was very cruel. Permanent corvee tax
was registered and there were also tem****ary additional corvee taxes.
Incomplete statistics indicate the existence of more than 200
categories of corvee taxes levied by the Gaxag (Tibetan local
government). The corvee assigned by Gaxag and manorial lords accounted
for over 50 percent of the labor of serf households, and could go as
high as 70-80 percent. According to a survey conducted before the
Democratic Reform, the Darongqang Manor owned by Regent Dagzhag of the
14th Dalai Lama had a total of 1,445 ke of land, and 81 able-bodied
and semi-able-bodied serfs. They were assigned a total of 21,260
corvee days for the whole year, the equivalent of an entire year's
labor by 67.3 people. In effect, 83 percent of the serfs had to do
corvee for one full year.
The serfs engaged in hard labor year in and year out and yet had no
guaranteed food or clothing. Often they had to rely on money borrowed
at usury to keep body and soul together. The annual interest rate for
usurious loans was very high, while that for money borrowed from
monasteries was 30 percent, and for grain 20 or 25 percent. Monetary
loans from nobles exacted a 20 percent interest, while that for grain
amounted to 20 or 25 percent.
Gaxag had several money-lending institutions, and the Dalai Lama of
various generations had two organizations specialized in lending
money. Incomplete records in the account books of the two cash-lending
bodies of the Dalai Lama in 1950 show that they had lent out about
3.0385 million liang of Tibetan silver in usurious loans.
Snowballing interest of usurious loans created debts which could never
be repaid by even succeeding generations and debts involving a
guarantor resulted in the bankruptcy of both the debtor and the
guarantor. The grandfather of a serf named Cering Goinbo of
Maizhokunggar County once borrowed 50 ke of grain (1 ke equal to 14
kg) from the Sera Monastery. In 77 years the three generations had
paid more than 3,000 ke of grain for the interest but the serf-owner
still claimed that Cering Goinbo owed him 100,000 ke of grain. There
was another serf named Dainzin in Donggar County who in 1941 borrowed
one ke of qingke barley from his master. In 1951 when he was asked to
repay 600 ke, he was forced to flee, his wife was driven to death and
his seven-year-old son was taken away to repay the debt by labor.
In order to safeguard the interests of serf-owners, Tibetan local
rulers formulated a series of laws. The 13-Article Code and 16-Article
Code, which were enforced for several hundred years in old Tibet,
divided people into three cl***** and nine ranks. They clearly
stipulated that people were unequal in legal status. The codes
stipulated, "It is forbidden to quarrel with a worthy, sage, noble and
descendant of the ruler"; "persons of the lower rank who attack those
of the upper rank, and a junior official who quarrels with a senior
official commit a serious crime and so should be detained"; "anyone
who resists a master's control should be arrested"; "a commoner who
offends an official should be arrested"; "anyone who voices grievances
at the palace, behaving disgracefully, should be arrested and
whipped." The standards for measuring punishment and the methods for
dealing with people of different cl***** and ranks who violated the
same criminal law were quite different. In the law concerning the
penalty for murder, it was written, "As people are divided into
different cl***** and ranks, the value of a life correspondingly
differs." The lives of people of the highest rank of the upper class,
such as a prince or leading Living Buddha, are calculated in gold to
the same weight as the dead body. The lives of people of the lowest
rank of the lower class, such as women, butchers, hunters and
craftsmen, are worth a straw rope. In the law concerning compensation
for injury, it was stipulated that a servant who injures his master
should have his hands or feet chopped off; a master who injures a
servant is only responsible for the medical treatment for the wound,
with no other compensation required.
Making use of written or common law, the serf-owners set up
penitentiaries or private jails. Local governments had law courts and
prisons, as had large monasteries. Estate-holders could build private
prisons on their own manor ground. Punishments were extremely savage
and cruel, and included gouging out the eyes; cutting off ears, hands
and feet; pulling out tendons; and throwing people into water. In the
Gandan Monastery, one of the largest in Tibet, there were many
handcuffs, fetters, clubs and other cruel instruments of torture used
for gouging out eyes and ripping out tendons. Many materials and
photos showing limbs of serfs mutilated by serf-owners in those years
are kept in the hall housing the Tibetan Social and Historical Relics
Exhibition in the Beijing Cultural Palace of Nationalities.
Under the centuries-long feudal serfdom, the Tibetan serfs were
politically oppressed, economically exploited and frequently
persecuted. A saying circulated among serfs, "All a serf can carry
away is his own shadow, and all he can leave behind is his
footprints." Old Tibet can be said to have been one of the world's
regions witnessing the most serious violations of human rights.
Despite the cruel rule of the feudal serfdom, Tibetan laboring people
never ceased their resistance struggles. They strove for their
personal rights by making petitions, fleeing, resisting rent and
corvee and even waging armed struggle. However, they were subjected to
ruthless suppression by the three big estate-holders. The law of old
Tibet stated, "All civilians who rebel all commit felonies." In such
incidences not only the rebel himself would be killed, but his family
property would be confiscated and his wife be made a slave. The 5th
Dalai Lama once issued the order, "Commoners of Lhari Ziba listen to
my order: .... I have authorized Lhari Ziba to chop off your hands and
feet, gouge out your eyes, and beat and kill you if you again attempt
to look for freedom and comfort." This order was reiterated on many
occasions by his successors in power.
V. The People Gain Personal Freedom
The central people's government and the local government of Tibet
signed in 1951 the 17-Article Agreement on measures for the peaceful
liberation of Tibet, and Tibet was peacefully liberated. This brought
hope to the Tibetan people in their struggle for equal personal
rights. After the quelling of the armed rebellion in 1959, the central
people's government, in compliance with the wishes of the Tibetan
people, conducted the Democratic Reform in Tibet and abolished the
extremely decadent and dark feudal serfdom. The million serfs and
slaves were emancipated. They were no longer regarded as the personal
property of serf-owners who could use them for transactions, transfer,
mortgage for a debt or exchange or exact their toil. From that time on
they gained the right to personal freedom. This was a great, epoch-
making change in Tibetan history.
Now old Tibet's codes have been abrogated. Citizens are no longer
divided into three cl***** and nine ranks. All sorts of barbarous
punishments are prohibited and privately established prisons have all
been dismantled. New China's Constitution and laws guarantee that
every Tibetan enjoys the right to subsistence and personal safety.
The Democratic Reform abolished the owner****p of the means of
production by serf-owners. The farmland originally occupied by those
serf-owners involved in the armed rebellion was distributed free to
landless serfs and slaves. In Kesong Manor, Nedong County in Shannan
Prefecture, 443 peasants were given 1,696 ke of land. When the title
deeds for land and debt contracts were thrown into the fire, the
former serfs danced around the blaze. The 75-year-old Soinam said, "I
used to till the land of my master, and I belonged to him day and
night. When asked to do corvee at midnight, I dared not wait till dawn
the next day. Now I have received land. I feel I can sleep well and
have a good appetite. I really want to live several years longer so
that I can see the happy future." A policy of redemption was
introduced with regard to the land and other means of production of
serf-owners who did not participate in the rebellion. The 900,000 ke
of land and over 820,000 head of livestock of the 1,300 serf-owners
and their agents, who did not participate in the rebellion, were
redeemed by the state at a cost topping 45 million yuan.
The Tibetan laboring people no longer suffer from the heavy corvee
taxes and usurious exploitation by the serf-owners. The fruits of
their labor all belong to themselves, and the enthusiasm of the
Tibetan people for production became unprecedentedly high. The
region's grain output in 1960 increased by 12.6 percent over 1959 and
the number of livestock by 10 percent. The Tibetan people began to
enjoy the right to subsistence, along with adequate food and clothing.
VI. The People Enjoy Political Rights
Under the political system combining religion with politics and
despotic rule by feudal estate-holders in old Tibet, the Dalai Lama
was one of the leaders of the Gelug Sect of Tibetan Buddhism and also
head of the Tibetan local government. He held both political and
religious power. The official system of the former Tibetan local
government was a dual one of monk and lay officials. In the
administrative organs, there were both monk and lay officials, with
the former higher than the latter in rank. But there were monk
officials in some organizations. Monasteries enjoyed special
jurisdiction in handling political affairs. Abbots of the three major
monasteries (Gandan, Sera and Zhaibung) and the four large ones
(Gundeling, Dangyailing, Cemoinling and Cejoiling) participated in all
"enlarged meetings of officials" to discuss im****tant events.
Resolutions adopted at the meetings became effective only when they
bore the stamps of the local government and the three major
monasteries.
The Democratic Reform in 1959 put an end to the political system of
combining religious with political rule and introduced the new
political system of people's democracy. Under the Constitution of the
People's Republic of China, the Tibetan people, like the people of
various nationalities throughout the country, have become masters of
the country and enjoy full political rights provided for by the law.
Citizens of the Tibet Autonomous Region who have reached the age of 18
have the right to vote and to stand for election, regardless of their
ethnic status, race, ***, occupation, family background, religious
belief, education, property status, or length of residence. They can
directly vote for deputies to the people's congresses of counties,
districts, town****ps and towns. These deputies can in turn elect
deputies to the national, autonomous regional and municipal people's
congresses. The people exercise the power of managing the state and
local affairs through the people's congresses at all levels. The
political enthusiasm of the Tibetan people is high because they have
obtained the right to be masters of their own affairs. They have
actively exercised their rights. Statistics of Lhasa, Nagqu, Xigaze,
Nyingchi and Shannan on the elections for deputies to the Fifth
People's Congress of the Tibet Autonomous Region in 1988 show that
93.88 percent of the people there voted. To enable illiterates to
participate, beans were used in place of ballots in many places.
Voters placed beans in the bowls behind the back of the candidates of
their choice. Those with the most beans went into office. Currently,
deputies of the local ethnic minorities, with Tibetans as the main
force, account for over 95 percent of the total local deputies to the
people's congresses at the district and county levels and the figure
is over 82 percent for those to the People's Congress of the Tibet
Autonomous Region. Most of the current chairmen of the Standing
Committees of the people's congresses of the 75 counties (cities and
districts) in the autonomous region used to be serfs or slaves in old
Tibet.
The Tibetan Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative
Conference (CPPCC) was set up in Tibet in 1959 to ensure that people
of all social strata and of all walks of life can fully voice their
opinions and play their roles in social and political life. The CPPCC,
an organization of the broadest patriotic united front under the
leader****p of the Communist Party of China, is an im****tant political
organization conducting political consultation, implementing mutual
supervision and developing socialist democracy. Its role has been
brought into full play in Tibet. The CPPCC Tibetan Committee has drawn
on the participation of the people of all social strata from Tibetan
and other ethnic groups. Many of them were patriotic monk and secular
officials of the former local government of Tibet and upper-class
religious figures. They include Pagbalha Geleg Namgyai, the Great
Living Buddha of Qamdo Prefecture, who is now vice-chairman of the
CPPCC National Committee and vice-chairman of the Standing Committee
of the People's Congress of the Tibet Autonomous Region; and Lhalu
Cewang Doje, a former Tibetan noble man and a Galoin of the Tibetan
local government, who is currently vice-chairman of the CPPCC Tibetan
Committee. Through the political consultative conferences, these
people have participated in the discussion and management of state
affairs and helped the government in making decisions. Their motions
raised at past conferences have involved ethnic groups, religion,
culture and education, science and technology, public health,
agriculture, animal husbandry, forestry, urban and rural construction
and environmental protection. They have played an im****tant role in
safeguarding the unification of the motherland, strengthening national
unity, opposing national separation, inheriting and developing
traditional national culture, speeding up development of Tibetan
economy, and promoting reform and opening up.
Tibet practices regional national autonomy in accordance with the
Constitution of the People's Republic of China. In March 1955, the
central government decided to set up the Preparatory Committee for the
Tibet Autonomous Region. In September 1965, the First Session of the
First People's Congress of the Tibet Autonomous Region was held in
Lhasa and the establishment of the Tibet Autonomous Region was
officially announced. Most deputies of the tibetan nationality to the
congress were emancipated serfs and slaves, as well as patriots from
the upper strata and religious figures. At the congress, Ngapoi
Nagwang Jigme was elected chairman of the People's Committee of the
Tibet Autonomous Region. Having smashed the yoke of the feudal
serfdom, the broad m***** of serfs and slaves obtained political and
national equal rights.
The Law of the People's Republic of China Governing Regional National
Autonomy stipulates, "People's congresses in the areas of national
autonomy have the right to formulate regulations on the exercise of
autonomy or specific regulations in accordance with the political,
economic and cultural characteristics of the local nationalities." In
accordance with the rights bestowed by the Law Governing Regional
National Autonomy, the People's Congress of the Tibet Autonomous
Region has since 1965 formulated more than 60 local rules and
regulations, decrees, decisions and resolutions, involving political,
economic, cultural and educational aspects, which conform to the
reality of Tibet and maintain the interests of Tibetan people. They
include the Rules of Procedures of the People's Congress of the Tibet
Autonomous Region, the Procedures on Formulating Local Laws and
Regulations for the Tibet Autonomous Region, the Measures for the
Management of Mining by Collective Mining Enterprises and Individuals
in the Tibet Autonomous Region, the Resolutions on Study, Use and
Development of the Tibetan Language in the Tibet Autonomous Region,
the Regulations of the Tibet Autonomous Region on the Protection and
Management of Cultural Relics, and the Accommodation Rules for the
Implementation of the Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China.
The formulation and implementation of these local rules and
regulations have furnished an im****tant legal guarantee to the
realization of democratic rights for the Tibetan people and to the
development of local social, economic and cultural undertakings.
To enable the Tibetan people to better perform the right to manage
state and local affairs, the central government has attached great
weight to the training of cadres of Tibetan nationality. Currently,
there are 37,000 cadres of Tibetan nationality in the Tibet Autonomous
Region. All the main leading posts in the people's congresses,
governments and people's political consultative conferences at various
levels are filled by Tibetans. Cadres of Tibetan nationality account
for 66.6 percent of the total in Tibet, 71.7 percent at the regional
level and 74.8 percent at the county level. Tibetan women were in the
lowest echelon of society in old Tibet. Today, many of them hold
leading posts, accounting for upwards of 30 percent of the cadres in
the autonomous region in 1986. At present, five have become cadres at
the regional level, 38 at the prefectural level and 232 at the county
level. Most Tibetan cadres are emancipated serfs and slaves. There are
also some patriots from the upper class. Appropriate arrangements have
also been made even for those serf-owners and their agents who
participated in the rebellion, giving them the chance to contribute to
the state and people if they renounce their reactionary stand and
possess real skills.
In judicial activities, in addition to enjoying equal legal rights
with the people in other parts of the country, the Tibetan people have
also been granted special rights stipulated in the Law of the People's
Republic of China Governing Regional National Autonomy. The People's
Congress of the Tibet Autonomous Region stipulates, "People's courts
and procuratorates at various levels must guarantee the right of
Tibetan citizens to use their own national language to enter a
lawsuit. In cases involving the Tibetans, Tibetan language should be
used in doing procuratorial work and hearing cases, and legal
do***ents should be written in the Tibetan language." At present, the
main officials of the procuratorates and courts at all levels in Tibet
are Tibetan citizens.
VII. Economic Development and Improvement of Living Standards
The feudal serfdom in old Tibet seriously handicapped the development
of the social productive forces. The economy in Tibet was in a state
of extreme backwardness for a long time. Wooden ploughs were the basic
tools for agricultural production and yaks were employed for
thre****ng. Slash and burn cultivation and the burning of grass to
fertilize land were still customs retained in a few localities. In
1952, each mu of land (15 mu equal to 1 hectare) could only produce 80
kg of grain on the average and the per-capita share of grain came to
125 kg. Livestock breeding hinged on climatic conditions and frequent
natural calamities often caused the deaths of large numbers of
animals. In 1952, the region had only 9.74 million head of livestock.
The handicrafts industry was also extremely backward and modern
industry was nonexistent in old Tibet. Dangerous and difficult roads
made it hard to travel in the region. The trans****t of goods and the
delivery of mail had to depend on human and animal power. There were
no bridges on the Yarlung Zangbo River that dissects Tibet, except for
a few chain constructions left over from the Ming Dynasty. Since there
were no highways in Tibet, the car given to the Dalai Lama by the
British had to be dismantled and carried to Lhasa by draught animals.
Tibet was also backward in regard to sources of energy. In 1950, on
the eve of Tibet's peaceful liberation, there was only one 125-kw
hydropower station in the region, which supplied electricity only
intermittently. The backward economy and the cruel exploitation by the
serf-owners kept the people in dire poverty and misery. As far as
Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, was concerned, there were only 20,000
residents in the city proper before the Democratic Reform in 1959, and
close to 1,000 tattered tents thrown together for the poor and beggars
could be seen on the outskirts of the city. Prison authorities offered
no food to the convicts, and "prisoners" in handcuffs and wooden
cangues begged in the streets. And the pathetic remains of those
homeless people who died of frost and hunger could be spotted anywhere
in the city.
The Democratic Reform has greatly fired the enthusiasm of farmers and
herdsmen for production. In the past four decades, particularly since
the reform and opening up of the last ten years and more, earth-
shaking changes have taken place in Tibet. With the sup****t of the
central government and people throughout the country, the Tibetan
people have developed production, alleviated poverty and built up
family fortunes.
The development of agriculture and animal husbandry has been given top
priority in the Tibetan economy. During the early stage of the
Democratic Reform, the central government and the Tibetan local
government formulated a series of policies and principles for the
development of agriculture and animal husbandry which were compatible
with the local conditions. Financial and material sup****t was also
provided. As a result, Tibet's production levels of agriculture and
animal husbandry increased greatly. Total grain output rose from 180
million kg in 1959 to 315 million kg in 1966, registering an average
growth rate of 8.3 percent a year. Cattle soared from 9.556 million
head in 1959 to 18.175 million head, a rise of 90.2 percent. The
living standards of the people took the first step towards
improvement.
Since 1980, the government has imposed no levies on farmers and
herdsmen, with both agricultural and livestock taxes exempted. In
1984, in addition to continuing the practice of interest exemption for
agricultural and livestock loans, the government annulled repayment of
pre-1980 collective loans used for the building of water conservancy
projects and purchasing machinery for agriculture and animal
husbandry. Agricultural and pastoral areas have introduced various
forms of contracted production responsibility systems on a household
basis, developed household sideline occupations, restored open markets
and conducted large-scale capital construction of farmland and
grassland. Before the liberation of Tibet, there was no farm machinery
or chemical fertilizer in Tibet. Nowadays, farming households own
tractors. Scientific farming and breeding of cattle has become highly
valued and welcomed. Introduction of modern tools for production and
the application of science and technology have boosted overall
production. In 1991, the total output value of agriculture reached
2.046 billion yuan in Tibet, 4.4 times higher than in 1952. Grain
output came to 580 million kg and the average per-mu yield was 224 kg,
showing rises of 3.7 times and 2.8 times respectively over 1952.
Although the 1991 population of Tibet was almost double that in 1952,
the per-capita share of grain in 1991 came to 290.5 kg, or an increase
of 2.2 times that of 1952. The output of animal by-products rose by a
substantial margin. In 1991, the total meat output stood at 91,000
tons and the total output of milk reached 177,000 tons.
Modern industry started after the Democratic Reform of Tibet. In 1965,
80 industrial enterprises were established in Tibet. Employing close
to 10,000 workers, they covered the building, power, motor vehicle
repair, lumber, tanning, borax and coal industries. The total
industrial output value reached 28.83 million yuan that year. The
government has paid close attention to the development of the national
handicrafts. In 1965, it had widened to encompass 33 trades and its
total annual output value rose from 1.24 million yuan before the
Democratic Reform to 8.9 million yuan, showing a 7.2-fold rise. Tibet
was short of petroleum and coal, and energy supply was inadequate in
the past. To change the situation, a power station was built in Lhasa
in 1956. It was the first public power enterprise in Tibet. Tibet is
rich in geothermal resources and the state invested in building a
geothermal power station in Yangbajain with the biggest generating
capacity in China. In 1991, the installed power generating capacity of
Tibet reached 140,000 kw and the annual output of generated
electricity came to 400 million kwh. After 40 years of construction,
Tibet boasts a dozen or so modern industries such as power, mining,
building materials, lumber, wool textile, printing and food. Employees
of state-owned enterprises total 51,000. In 1991, the total industrial
output value came to 403 million yuan, a rise of 5.3 times that of
1959. The output value of the handicrafts stood at 46 million yuan.
Tibet had no regular highways in the past. After the peaceful
liberation of Tibet, the first large-scale construction project was to
build highways from Sichuan and Qinghai to Lhasa on the high mountain
ridges with an average elevation of 3,000 meters. The Sichuan-Tibet
Highway is 2,413 km long and the Qinghai-Tibet Highway 2,122 km long.
Since then, the Xinjiang-Tibet, Yunnan-Tibet and China-Nepal highways
have been built one after another. Currently, there are 15 arterial
highways and 315 feeder roads, with a total length of 21,842 km,
throughout Tibet. Except for Medog County which is located deep in the
mountains, highways provide access to all the counties and 77 percent
of the town****ps in Tibet. A highway network, with Lhasa at the
center, consisting mainly of the Qinghai-Tibet, Sichuan-Tibet, Yunnan-
Tibet and China-Nepal highways, has taken shape. In order to solve
Tibet's fuel supply problem, the state allocated funds to build a
refined oil transmission pipeline from Golmud in Qinghai Province to
Lhasa. This 1,080-km-long pipeline has played an im****tant role in
guaranteeing energy supplies for Tibet in its economic construction.
To meet Tibet's need to open to the outside world, since the start of
an air route from Lhasa to Beijing in 1956, domestic airlines have
offered services from Lhasa to Chengdu, Xian, Lanzhou, Shanghai and
Guangzhou. International air links have been inaugurated between Lhasa
and Kathmandu, Nepal.
Modern science and technology did not exist in old Tibet. The period
since the Democratic Reform has seen the establishment of
agricultural, animal husbandry, communications, power, construction,
geological, water conservancy, meteorological, public health,
pharmaceutical and educational research institutions in Tibet. They
have trained Tibetan scientific and technical personnel. The Academy
of Social Sciences of the Tibet Autonomous Region was set up in 1985.
Currently, Tibet has 17 special scientific research institutions with
26,900 technical personnel. Over the past 40 years, 347 scientific and
technological achievements have been awarded prizes at the autonomous
regional level. Of these, 21 scientific research achievements such as
"the comprehensive development and utilization of solar energy
resources in Tibet" have been honored by state prizes.
The snowy peaks, famous monasteries and relics of historical interest
on the Tibetan Plateau have attracted many adventurers and tourists
from other countries. In opening up, Tibet's tourism industry has
gradually flourished. At present, Tibet has 11 travel agencies and 19
tourist hotels and guesthouses with 3,600 beds for foreign guests. The
autonomous region has opened over 60 scenic spots to the public.
Between 1980 and 1991, Tibet received 150,900 overseas tourists.
Due to efforts made in the past 40-odd years the living standards of
the Tibetan people have improved markedly. Most farmers and herdsmen
have adequate food and clothing and some have attained relative
affluence. In 1991, the average net income of farmers and herdsmen in
the region was 455 yuan. Allowing for price increases, the figure was
2.6 times higher than the 159 yuan of 1979. In the Zholgyur Village,
Yadong County at the foot of the Himalayas, the annual income of the
75 households was 361,600 yuan in 1986 and 74 households have built
new dwellings. The per-capita income of residents in cities and towns
is 2,120 yuan a year, 3.3 times higher than in 1981. By the end of
1991, savings deposits of city and town****p residents totalled 492.4
million yuan, over 500 times more than in 1959. Farmers and herdsmen
have obtained considerable amount of means of production. Each
household owns 6,021 yuan worth of fixed assets for production
purposes and 75 head of cattle. For every 100 households, there are
nine motor vehicles, six tractors, three power-driven threshers, and
12 horse-drawn carts. The average per-capita material consumption of
farmers and herdsmen has increased enormously compared with the period
before the liberation of Tibet. In 1991, the per-capita consumption of
grain was 183.6 kg. Other figures were 3.6 kg for edible oil, 14.7 kg
for meat and 50 kg for milk. While retaining their traditional diet,
Tibetans have expanded it to also include more vegetables, eggs, wine,
sweets and pastries. The living conditions of the people have improved
markedly. According to statistics produced by the local government of
old Tibet, of a population of 1 million in Tibet in 1950, some 900,000
lacked real housing. Currently, except for the pastoral areas, all
households have fixed housing. In 1991, the per-capita floor space of
city and town****p residents reached 13.7 square meters. In Gyangze
County of Xigaze Prefecture, which has a population of 56,700, over 80
percent have moved into new dwellings, with a per-capita floor space
of 40 square meters. The traditional way of life of the Tibetan people
has been somewhat modernized. A sample survey shows that for every 100
urban households, there are 212 bicycles, 88 color televisions, 84
radio cassette recorders, 42 wa****ng machines, 24 refrigerators and 26
cameras. The construction of various cultural facilities has
increasingly enriched the ethical outlook and cultural life of Tibetan
people.
Due to Tibet's extremely harsh natural conditions and its extremely
backward social development in history, the level of economic
development and the living standards of the people are still lower
than the nation's average. In 1989, the government of Tibet Autonomous
Region formulated the Strategic Ideas for the Economic and Social
Development of Tibet. It has implemented the policy of opening up to
the rest part of China and the outside world as well; exploring the
regional, domestic and foreign markets; developing advantageous
resources and stepping up development of key areas and key industries.
The goal is to narrow as soon as possible the gap in economic
development between Tibet and other areas of the nation in order to
lay a solid foundation for the common prosperity of Tibetan and other
ethnic groups.
VIII. Freedom of Religious Belief
The majority of Tibetans believe in Tibetan Buddhism. There are also
about 2,000 Muslims and 600 Catholics in the autonomous region.
Respect for and protection of freedom of religious belief is a basic
policy of the Chinese government. After the peaceful liberation of
Tibet, organizations at all levels in Tibet earnestly carried out the
policy, gaining the appreciation of both monks and lay people.
Protected by the Constitution of the People's Republic of China and
state laws, the Tibetan people now enjoy full freedom to participate
in normal religious activities. Almost every religious family has a
small sutra recitation hall or a niche for a Buddhist statue. More
than 1 million wor****pers make the pilgrimage to Lhasa each year.
Sutra streamers and Mani stone mounds put up by devout believers can
be seen everywhere in Tibet. Inside and outside famous monasteries
such as the Jokhang are crowds of wor****pers either prostrating in
prayer, turning their prayer wheels or bowing to Buddhist statues.
During the period of the "cultural revolution" (1966-76), however, in
Tibet as in other parts of China, the policy on freedom of religious
belief was disrupted, and sites and facilities for religious
activities were seriously damaged. After the "cultural revolution"
ended, the policy on freedom of religious belief began to be
implemented again in Tibet in an all-round way. Since 1980, unjust,
false and wrong cases have been redressed in Tibet and religious
institutions have been reinstated or established, and a great deal of
work has been done to ensure freedom of religious belief for all
citizens. Over the past decade and more, the Chinese government has
appropriated more than 200 million yuan in special funds to implement
the religious policy in Tibet. The funds were used to renovate the
Jokhang Monastery built in the 7th century, the Samye Monastery built
by the king of the Tubo Kingdom in the 8th century, and the four
famous monasteries of the Gelug Sect of Tibetan Buddhism Zhaibung,
Sera, Gandan and Ta****lhunpo. For the renovation of the Potala Palace
alone, the central government allotted a lump sum of more than 40
million yuan. In 1984, the central government provided 6.7 million
yuan in special funds, 111 kg of gold, 2,000 kg of silver and large
quantities of jewelry for the renovation, under the direction of the
late 10th Bainqen Lama, of the holy stupas and the memorial halls for
the 5th to the 9th Bainqen Lamas. To date, more than 1,400 religious
centers have been renovated and opened to the public, meeting the
needs of the religious people for their normal religious life. The
government has also exerted every effort to locate those Buddhist
statues, instruments used in Buddhist services and other religious
articles that got lost during the "cultural revolution" and
distributed them to the various monasteries and temples, to the
welcome of monks and lay people.
In recent years, various religious organizations have organized
religious activities on their own. The Tibet branch of the Buddhist
Association of China established the Tibet College of Buddhism in 1983
and opened sutra studying cl***** in some monasteries and temples of
various religious sects. There are a total of 3,000 monk students.
Every year, a number of Living Buddhas and lamas are sent to the China
Tibetan Language High Institute of Buddhism in Beijing for advanced
studies. In 1984, the autonomous region's people's government
presented the Lhasa edition of the Gangyur of Tripitaka in Tibetan,
which used to be kept in local archives, to the Tibet Buddhist
Association. It offered 500,000 yuan to the latter for the
establishment of the Lhasa Sutra Printing House which, in recent
years, has printed more than 1,000 volumes of the Gangyur of Tripitaka
in Tibetan for Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and temples located both
inside and outside the autonomous region. In 1990, with another
500,000 yuan proffered by the government, the Tibet Buddhist
Association started the carving of printing blocks for the Lhasa
edition of the Dangyur of Tripitaka in Tibetan in Lhasa's Muru
Monastery. The 13th Dalai Lama had intended to commission the work,
but the plan never materialized. The journal Tibetan Buddhism was
launched by the Tibet Buddhist Association in 1985. Today, the region
has more than 34,000 lamas and nuns. A total of 615 people from
religious circles have become deputies to the people's congresses and
members of the people's political consultative conferences at various
levels, as well as directors of the Buddhist associations and
government officials. They participate in the management and
discussion of government affairs and devote themselves to Tibet's
construction undertakings together with other local citizens.
The government respects and protects traditional religious activities
and the rites of the various sects. According to the rituals of
Tibetan Buddhism and historical traditions, after a Living Buddha
p***** away his position should be inherited by his incarnation
through traditional methods. On June 25, 1992, the central government
confirmed the incarnate soul boy of the 16th Living Buddha Garmaba.
Government department officials attend such religious activities as
the annual Grand Summons Ceremony in Lhasa, the pilgrimage to Snow
Mountain in the Year of the Horse, the pilgrimage to the Holy Lake of
Nam Co in the Year of the Sheep and the Walking-Around-Religious-Rock
Festival at the Razheng Monastery, and offer alms each time. Wedding
and funeral customs with religious links also receive full regard.
Thanks to the earnest implementation of the policy on freedom of
religious belief, different religions, sects, monasteries, and both
religious and secular people in Tibet respect one another and live in
harmony. China's Constitution also clearly stipulates that no one may
make use of religion to engage in activities that disrupt public
order, impair the health of citizens and hamper the country's
educational system. Those who carry out law-breaking and conduct
criminal activities under the guise of religion will be prosecuted
according to law. In recent years, some monks and nuns in Tibet
received legal retribution because they infringed on the law. They
were involved in riots that endangered social security and disrupted
public order, engaged in beating, sma****ng, looting, burning and
killing and carried out other criminal activities. None was arrested
and d guilty because of religious belief.
Buddhist organizations and religious circles in Tibet have actively
carried out friendly exchanges with their counterparts abroad. Since
China introduced reform and opening up, the Tibet branch of the
Buddhist Association of China and some monasteries and temples have
organized religious groups to go on friendly tours, visits,
inspections and academic exchanges abroad. They have also hosted more
than 10,000 people from several dozen countries who came, either in
groups or individually, on pilgrimage, or for sightseeing or
inspection tours.
Since the peaceful liberation of Tibet in 1951, many noted religious
figures have worked in co-operation with the Chinese Communist Party
and the government, and participated in the management and discussion
of government affairs. They have played an active part in the
construction of the country and Tibet, earning the admiration of the
people and winning the respect of the government. For several decades,
the late 10th Bainqen Erdeni Qoigyi Gyaincan, co-leader of Tibetan
Buddhism with the Dalai Lama, constantly adhered to a patriotic stand
and made great contributions to the peaceful liberation of Tibet, to
the struggle against separatism, to the safeguarding of the
unification of the motherland and to the strengthening of the unity of
various ethnic groups. After the founding of the People's Republic of
China, he served as a vice-chairman of the NPC Standing Committee and
the honorary president of the Buddhist Association of China. He passed
away in January 1989. The government decided to build a holy stupa and
memorial hall for the remains of the 10th Bainqen Erdeni Qoigyi
Gyaincan in the Ta****lhunpo Monastery in Xigaze, and hold memorial
ceremonies, preserve his body and look for and choose the reincarnated
soul boy to succeed him according to Tibetan Buddhist tradition.
Currently, structures of the holy stupa and the memorial hall are
basically completed, and the search for the child is proceeding
smoothly under the charge of Living Buddha Qazha Qamba Chilai of the
Ta****lhunpo Monastery.
IX. Development of Education and Culture
Education in old Tibet was very backward. There were no schools in the
modern sense. Before Tibet's peaceful liberation, only some 2,000
monks and children of the nobility studied in government and private
schools. The m***** of serfs and slaves had no right to receive
education.
Under the stipulation of the 17-Article Agreement concerning the
gradual development of the spoken and written Tibetan language and
school education, the Lhasa Primary School was founded in 1952 and the
Lhasa Middle School established in 1956. this enabled Tibet to embark
on the road to modern education.
To develop education in Tibet, the government has invested more than
1.1 billion yuan and introduced a series of special policies over the
past 40 years. Education is free. All the study costs of Tibetan
students, from primary school to university, are covered by the
government. Since 1985, free food, clothing and accommodation have
been provided for some Tibetan primary and middle school students, and
boarding schools have been introduced in the vast rural and pastoral
areas. The principle of "giving priority to local nationalities" has
been carried out in recruiting students for various kinds of schools
at different levels. Priority is given to candidates of Tibetan and
other local nationalities in the recruitment of university, college
and secondary vocational school students. Efforts are being made to
establish more departments and schools of Tibetan culture covering
Tibetan language, medicine, art and history.
Over the past four decades and more, Tibet has basically established
an educational system with both special local flavor and national
characteristics which includes pre-school, primary and middle school,
secondary vocational and technical school education, plus higher
education, and adult and television education. Urban residents,
farmers and herdsmen now enjoy the right to receive education.
According to statistics, by 1991, Tibet had established four modern
universities (Tibet University, the Institute for Nationalities, the
Agriculture and Animal Husbandry College and the Tibetan Medical
College); 15 secondary vocational and technical schools involved in
teacher training, agriculture and animal husbandry, public health,
Tibetan medicine, finances, s****ts, art, and post and
telecommunications; 63 middle schools and 2,474 primary schools. The
total enrollment hit 196,000, with most being Tibetan students. Of the
16,000 faculty members, two-thirds were Tibetan teachers. The
buildings of primary and secondary schools and institutes of higher
learning covered nearly 1.5 million square meters, and audio-visual
teaching had become an im****tant means of instruction. In the last
four decades and more in Tibet, 18,000 students graduated from
universities and colleges; 510,000 from primary and secondary schools,
including more than 40,000 from secondary vocational schools, senior
middle schools and secondary technical schools; more than 15,000
cadres were trained in rotation; and nearly 7,000 people received
certificates from secondary vocational and college-level self-study
programs. A large number of professionals for all undertakings have
thus been trained.
The development of education in Tibet has enhanced the cultural level
of citizens, creating conditions for the Tibetan people to better
exercise their right of regional autonomy as an ethnic minority and
attain overall development. However, since the foundations of
education in old Tibet were very weak and the population sparsely
scattered, illiterates and semi-illiterates still make up a
considerable pro****tion in Tibet's population, although they are now
in the minority rather than in the majority, as they were in the past.
Further development of education remains a strenuous and pressing task
in Tibet.
Tibet has a rich traditional culture which covers language,
literature, art, philosophy, religion, medicine and the celestial
almanac. The Chinese government has always attached im****tance to
protecting and developing the excellent traditional culture of the
Tibetan ethnic group. It has adopted a series of policies and measures
to honor, protect and ensure the flouri****ng of Tibet's traditional
culture, enabling the legacy of Tibetan culture to be inherited and
developed.
The Tibetan language is the common language for the whole autonomous
region. In July 1987, the autonomous regional People's Congress
adopted the Regulations on Study, Use and Development of the Tibetan
Language in the Tibet Autonomous Region (for trial implementation),
which clearly stipulates that both Tibetan and Chinese languages
should be used in the Tibet Autonomous Region while first place is
given to the Tibetan language. Today, all the resolutions, regulations
and rules, the decrees adopted by the People's Congress of the Tibet
Autonomous Region and all the formal do***ents and notices issued by
the autonomous regional people's government are in both Tibetan and
Chinese. Newspapers, radio and television stations also use both
languages. Of the books edited and published in the autonomous region,
those in the Tibetan language make up 70 percent. Speakers of
different languages are treated equally in the recruitment of workers,
cadres and students, with priority always given to Tibetan speakers.
Tibetan is used in large meetings attended by the m*****. All work
units, streets, roads and public facilities are marked in both Tibetan
and Chinese script. The Tibetan language is the main subject of all
schools at different levels.
The Tibetan people's traditional customs and practices have received
wide respect. In the cities, towns and agricultural and pastoral areas
in Tibet, most Tibetans still retain their traditional clothing, diet
and housing. Each year, the Tibetan people celebrate the Tibetan New
Year, the Sour Milk Drinking Festival, the Butter Lamp Festival, the
Bathing Festival, the Ongkor (Bumper Harvest) Festival and the Damar
Festival in their time-honored ways. The government has introduced
preferential policies to encourage the production of necessities for
minority nationalities.
Cultural relics in Tibet are put under full protection. The Potala
Palace, the Jokhang Monastery and some other monasteries and temples
have become national or regional key cultural preservation centers.
Since the mid-1970s, systematic plateau archeological studies have
been carried out and several dozen cultural sites of the Stone Age
excavated. All the unearthed cultural relics are carefully kept by the
regional cultural relics management department, and these discoveries
provide valuable materials for the study of primitive and traditional
Tibetan culture.
The traditional cultural heritage of Tibetans has been systematically
investigated, collected, collated, published and studied. The tibetan
Ancient Books Publi****ng House has collected more than 200 rare
ancient books in Tibetan and collated and published a number of them.
The Tibet People's Publi****ng House has pooled efforts to collate and
publish a number of classics and booklets of historical archives. By
the end of 1990, more than 1 million copies of 200 ancient Tibetan
books had been distributed. Tibetan classics, which only existed in
hand-written and engraved forms and were neglected for several hundred
years, now, for the first time, have been printed in copies with
exquisite binding.
Marked achievements have also been made in the collection and
collation of Tibetan folk literature, drama, music and choreography.
More than 20 writings and books on Tibetan folk culture have been
published. King Gesar, the world's longest epic created by the Tibetan
people, existed only in oral memory among the Tibetan people and was
performed using dialogue and singing. Today, the retrieval, collation
and study of this epic has been included in the state's key social
science research projects, and a special institution has been founded
to take charge of the project. Up to now, more than 3,000 cassette
tapes recording the epic have been made, and 62 volumes in the Tibetan
language published with a total circulation exceeding 3 million
copies. The 600,000-word History of Chinese Dramas: Tibetan Volume has
been compiled, filling in a blank in theoretical writings and
monographic studies on drama in Tibetan history. Materials are being
garnered on the basis of surveys for the compilation of books about
Tibetan dance, folk rhymes, music in Tibetan opera and folk art,
instrumental music, folk art history, folk songs, folklore and
proverbs.
Tibetology is a comprehensive branch of learning which embraces all
areas, including Tibetan history, religion, culture, economics,
politics and sociology. More than 50 Tibetan studies institutions have
been founded in Tibet and other places, and the China Tibetan Studies
Center was inaugurated in 1986 in Beijing. These research institutions
have taken up numerous research projects, such as the strategy for
socio-economic development in Tibet, a concise history of Tibet, the
collation and study of Pattra in Sanskrit, and the study of the origin
of Tibetan religions and religious sects. They have also launched
nearly 30 journals in the Tibetan, Chinese or English languages,
including Tibet Research, Tibetan Buddhism, Tibetan Social Development
Study, Tibetan Art Study, Snowy Land Culture, China's Tibetan Studies,
and China's Tibet. Since the 1980s, with the expansion of
international academic exchange concerning the study of Tibet, 130-
plus scholars from a dozen of countries and regions and Tibetan
scholars residing abroad have visited Tibet, made academic surveys and
conducted negotiations on joint scientific research projects. Some
Tibetan experts and scholars were invited to go on tours, give
lectures and participate in academic meetings abroad.
Tibet's traditional culture and art, which only entertained high
officials and noble lords in the past, now serve all Tibetan people,
enriching their cultural life. The autonomous region has ten
professional art and dance ensembles and Tibetan opera troupes, 20
county-level art troupes and more than 350 amateur performing troupes.
There are six multi-purpose people's art centers equipped with modern
facilities and 25 county-level cultural centers. Tibet now boasts a
contingent of nearly 5,000 professional cultural workers, with
Tibetans accounting for 90 percent of the total. They have created a
number of literary and artistic works and programs which have a strong
national flavor and reflect the features of our age, and some of their
works have won international prizes. Over the past decade and more, 14
Tibetan art troupes composed of close to 300 artists were invited to
give performances abroad. Cultural activities are very much in
evidence during each traditional festival in Tibet. The Sour Milk
Drinking Festival has expanded from performances of Tibetan operas to
the largest annual art festival featuring all kinds of cultural and
artistic activities. TRaditional s****ts have been held extensively in
Tibet too. Since the 1980s, more than ten traditional s****ts have been
tapped and included in formal competitions. Tibetan athletes captured
quite a few prizes at the National S****ts Meet for Ethnic Groups.
During traditional festivals, time-honored games and performances are
held in all parts of Tibet. The modern athletic level in Tibet has
been enhanced constantly and mountaineering, in particular, has
attained internationally known achievements.
While traditional cultural activities are flouri****ng in Tibet, modern
cultural facilities have also made their way there. At present, Tibet
has 137 television and TV video relay stations and television
transposer stations, 297 ground satellite stations, 26 radio
broadcasting, relay and transmitting stations, and 74 wire
broadcasting stations at prefectural and county levels. A broadcasting
and television network which covers the whole region and combines
satellite and wireless transmission with wire broadcasting has
initially taken shape in Tibet. The region now has 82 film
distribution and projection agencies and 553 film projection teams.
Nearly 200 new films are shown each year, and residents in
agricultural and pastoral areas enjoy free film shows. Many modern
recreational facilities have been built in Tibet to prosper both
traditional and modern cultural activities.
X. People's Health and Demographic Growth
Old Tibet, under the feudal serf system, had only three officially
operated, small traditional Tibetan medical establishments, having
simple and rough medical equipment, and a few private clinics. There
were close to 100 practitioners. Even adding folk doctors of Tibetan
medicine, the number totalled only about 400, averaging less than 0.4
per 1,000 people. These medical establishments and medical workers
chiefly served the nobility and officials. Absolutely no medical
treatment was given to the broad m***** of serfs and slaves when they
fell ill. Deadly infectious diseases such as smallpox and the plague
occurred frequently and even ran rampant. According to records, in the
150 years before the peaceful liberation of Tibet in 1951, smallpox
raged four times, and the contagion in 1925 caused 7,000 deaths in the
Lhasa area alone. Epidemic typhoid fever in 1934 and 1937 took more
than 5,000 lives in Lhasa. When some infectious diseases spun out of
control, the former Tibetan local government did not take measures to
save the afflicted but, on the contrary, drove them into high
mountains or deep valleys, whose exits were guarded by troops. This
resulted in the death of the expelled sufferers. Historical records
show that in old Tibet, the average life span was 36 years, and the
growth of the Tibetan population stagnated for a long time.
The primary task facing Tibet in the development of public health care
has been to gain control over the most deadly infectious diseases. The
Chinese government conscientiously carries out the principle of
"taking prevention as the main task," with the result that no case of
smallpox has been re****ted in tibet since the early 1960s. The
incidence of various infectious and endemic diseases has gone down by
a substantial margin, and some serious diseases that threaten the
lives of people have been wiped out or brought under basic control. In
order to assure the healthy growth of Tibetan children, a planned
immunization program has been widely implemented in tibet since 1986.
Over 85 percent of children have been inoculated.
After the Democratic Reform in 1959, the autonomous region gradually
established a medical and health network throughout Tibet. In 1991,
the region boasted 1,197 medical establishments, 401 times as many as
in 1951. There were no hospital beds in 1951 but 5,077 in 1991.
Professional medical workers numbered 9,740, or 98 times higher than
in 1951. Among them 7,749 were health technicians, with Tibetans
accounting for 80 percent of the total. Now, 88 percent of Tibetans
are living in rural and pastoral areas, where there were 850 health
establishments containing a total of 2,300 beds and 3,700 medical
workers in 1991. A further 3,500 local rural doctors and health
workers directly serve the m***** of farmers and herdsmen. In Tibet,
on average, there are 2.3 beds and 2.1 doctors per 1,000 people,
figures equal to and above the national average respectively, and also
higher than that of middle-income countries.
Traditional Tibetan medical science, comprising Tibetan medicine and
pharmacology, has been handed down and developed. The government
invested 20 million yuan in building a new inpatient department of the
region's Hospital of Traditional Tibetan Medicine, as well as five
local hospitals of this kind. In 1991, there were 1,015 Tibetan
medicine doctors and pharmacists in the whole region. In order to meet
the needs for the development of Tibetan medicine, the autonomous
region founded the Tibetan Medical College and the Tibetan Medicine
Research Institute, and encouraged and sup****ted famous veteran
Tibetan medicine doctors to write scholarly books. A chronology of
valuable medical expertise was compiled by a group of aged
specialists. The Four-Volume Medical Code, a famous book on Tibetan
medical knowledge, was published and distributed. Efforts have also
been made in the compiling and publi****ng of A Complete Collection of
Wall Charts of the Four-Volume Medical Code and Medical Science
Encyclopedia: Tibetan Medicine, plus dozens of teaching materials and
special books about Tibetan medicine, including Physiology, Pathology,
Pharmacology, Dietetics, and Newly Compiled Tibetan Medicine.
Pharmaceuticals production is developing quickly too. Now, there are
three Tibetan medicine factories.
Scientific research institutes of Tibetan medicine have put more
efforts into the study of plateau sickness and other diseases which
endanger the lives of Tibetan people, and have achieved im****tant
research results. Tibetan medical workers are both domestic and
international leaders in rescue and the treatment of plateau
pneumochysis, mountain coma and chronic plateau sickness.
To train more health workers, the Tibet Institute for Nationalities
has opened a medical department. In addition, the Health School for
the Tibet Autonomous Region has been established and another two in
Xigaze and Qamdo. These schools have trained more than 6,000 high- and
middle-ranking health workers. Since 1980, more than 5,000 health
workers in the region have received on-the-job training, which has
helped raise their professional and administrative levels.
The government provides free medical care for all Tibetans. This, plus
considerable improvements in medical and health conditions, has
greatly raised the average life span and health level of the Tibetan
people. Average life expectancy has risen from 36 years before
liberation to 65 years at present. When compared with 1965, the
average height and weight of young Tibetans in the Lhasa area
increased by 8.8 cm and 5.2 kg respectively.
The government has special policies on birth control in Tibet. Family
planning is not practiced for the farmers and herds people who
constitute 88 percent of the region's entire population. The
government only conducts publicity campaigns to inform them about
rational births and ways to have healthy babies. Tibet has a vast
expanse of territory, but few land resources which can be developed.
In 1991, the average amount of cultivated land per person was only
1.54 mu. As Tibet's population has been increasing at a fast rate,
population control is necessary. Since 1984, the regional government
has advocated and carried out the policy of two children per couple
among Tibetan cadres, workers and the staff of enterprises and
residents in cities and towns. However, among the Han cadres, workers
and staff members in Tibet, the policy of one child per couple has
been advocated and enforced. Only 12 percent of the people in Tibet
are covered by the family planning policy. In the process of car |
